Ephesians 3:14-21 - ¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Love Takes Time to Seek God

I. In love, Christ sought you…

II. …take the time to seek God

What is it that makes the game of hide-and-go-seek so fun? Think back to the days you played it as a child. The energy put into discovering where someone is, the thrill of finding them, the excitement of finding a hiding place where you think no one will find you. These are the elements that draw people into the game.

In a way, that is how it is with our relationship with God. Now please, don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying our relationship with God is a game – no, our relationship with God is the core of our life. But in some ways, our relationship is like hide-and-go-seek. Remember, it was God who first sought us, and now he desires that we continue to seek him. But of course, God is not hidden from us. We know where to find him. He has revealed and made himself clearly known to us in his Word. And as we seek him there with our time, we find the excitement of discovering him in his fullness.

Today we begin a two week Stewardship Series based on the theme, Christ’s Love, Our Calling. And that’s just another way of saying, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). And this morning we see that Love Takes Time to Seek God.

Our lesson this morning comes from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. In the first three chapters of this letter, Paul stresses how God’s amazing grace forms a body of believers. The last three chapters then stress how God’s people will show God’s amazing grace through their lives. So, just before Paul makes this important shift in emphasis, he bridges the sections with this beautiful prayer. “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

Paul had founded this congregation. Through the Gospel message he preached, the Holy Spirit did his work and people came to faith. On his third missionary journey, Paul lamented that he would never see the Ephesian Christians again and warned them that false teachers, or as he describes them - ferocious wolves, would come sniffing around, looking to devour their faith. How would they spend their time in order to fight off these wolves? Would they seek to find strength and power by going back to idols? Would they simply reflect on the fact that they had once heard the gospel and that was enough? Or, would they grow in love toward God who had called them to faith? The world around called to them. It called for their precious commodity of time. It looked to smother the love and faith in God that was theirs. How would they show their love to God? How would they use their time which he had given them?

Now let’s make it a little more personal. To help us grasp how awesome the gift of time is, imagine that a bank credits your account each morning with $1,440. No balance can be carried over to the next day. Every evening whatever amount you failed to use during the day is taken away. What would you do? How would you spend that money?

Dear friends, each morning credits you with 1,440, and if you fail to use the day’s deposit, it is gone. You can’t draw on tomorrow’s deposit for today. God has blessed each and every one of us here today with time; a time of grace that God has given to each human being on earth to come to know him and his love for us, to believe in his Son Jesus Christ so that, by believing, we might bask in his love for all time and eternity. How will you decide what to do with this rich deposit of time?

Since God is the one who blesses us with this gift and knows what’s best for us, let’s ask him. He reveals his will for us: “You shall have no other gods.” God deserves and demands first place in our lives. “We are to fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” He is to be the first we turn to and the first we depend on. He is our highest priority.

He reveals more of his will in these: “Seek first his kingdom and righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), and “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16). Time spent with him in his Word is intended to build up our understanding of his love for us which builds up our relationship with him. We put him first when we sit down and think about how to manage our time. How much time have you scheduled every day this week to sit down and spend time exclusively with God and his Word and in prayer with no distractions?

You see, problems arise when we view time as “my time” and not “God’s time on loan to me.” Sometimes it’s the problem of allowing people to manage our time. Family, coworkers, friends clamor for our attention. Sometimes it’s the problem of allowing things to manage our time. Walk around your home and you can hear your possessions calling out to you. The remote control, computer mouse and video game controller beckon for your fingers. The “toys” in the garage cry out, “Play with me!”

And just how many hours have we spent bowing our knees before the cravings of our sinful nature, its desires, and the ways of this world instead of bowing before the Lord? It’s true: we often misuse our gift of time, which can be a gross sin against God and against his will for our lives. We’re so busy we don’t know if we’re coming or going and by the time we do get home all we want to do is sit on the couch and do nothing! I’ve worked all day and want to rest! Sound familiar? And we pout, “I have no time to put God first in my schedule!” And whose fault is it? It is our own grievous fault. We are guilty of not taking the time to seek God. And where does that get us? Nowhere good!

No doubt most of us have seen those old, dilapidated houses where years of neglect and lack of maintenance make it look like it’s about to fall on itself. Now take a good look at your faith and at your life of faith. Does it ever reflect one of those dilapidated houses in need of serious repair? Are the floorboards of faith rotted through so that you no longer draw strength from your Savior or power from his Spirit? Is the paint of prayer dreadfully peeling? Are the windows of worship boarded up? Have the gutters of Christian giving fallen off? And where do we turn when we are about to crash in on ourselves? Do we turn to the one who showed us love in the first place and made us his children, or do we seek strength and power from within ourselves to get back on track? Buying into the latest pop psychology or loading our bookshelves with the latest self-help guides. Do we seek motivation from the wolf in sheep’s clothing on Television who passes himself off as a gospel preacher? Or maybe we try to drown the misery through overindulgence of worldly pleasures. But none of it works!

Paul knew the wolves would come with false teaching, the allurement of this world, and the pressure of persecution. He knew that, at times, the Ephesians’ lives of faith would look rundown. That is why he continues his prayer with a reminder for them. “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” That is where we must go too – the Love of Christ.

Even for us Christians, it is tough to wrap our brains around that selfless, self-giving love. In love, Christ took and still takes the time to seek you. Even before God said, “Let there be light…” he was tracking you. In the first chapter of this letter Paul says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ. “ (Eph 1:4,5,11) That love left heaven’s glory to be brutalized. That love set aside the full use of divine power to be subject to his creation, to live as one of us, among us. During those years his priority was to spend time with his Father in worship and prayer, even though he had been with the Father from eternity! And at the end of his time on earth, he did not consult his “bucket list” and say, “What shall I do before I leave this place?” He sought the will of his Father. He spent time in hell suffering on a cross, so that you would not spend time suffering. He spent time enduring God’s wrath because of your sins of mismanaged and wasted time, so that you would not spend time separated from your God forever. He spent time in the grave and then stepped out of his grave so that we would not spend eternity in our grave.

How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ! That he would take the time to do this for you; for me! To seek our soul’s salvation, to look for us in this vast universe among billions of people, and make sure that water was sprinkled on our tiny heads and the Word spoken so that we might personally know and receive his love and forgiveness!

Now, since God through Christ Jesus has made us his top priority, and continues to make us his main concern, we will make him our number one priority as we look at how we can manage the time God has blessed us with…to answer the question: how can I put God first with my time?

It begins today. Today we will go home and sit down at the dinner table with our family or spouse or a friend and pull out our calendars or Blackberries or cell phones and schedule time to seek God in his Word. It might be that we have to sacrifice time spent with someone or something else. It may mean that we physically write that time on our calendar or punch it into our cell phone. I may mean less time on Facebook, in front of the Television, reading about the sports world, or spending time with the phone glued to your ear. But that’s ok!

And you have wonderful resources to begin seeking God. Your Bible is a good place to begin. Start by reading a chapter a day. Bible Classes, including next week’s Stewardship Bible Class is a place to go. Sunday school and weekly worship. Parents, schedule time to read the Bible or devotions with your children. Use the Sunday school lesson sheets they bring home each week. Do confirmation homework together. Take time to seek God in his Word.

Your life as a Christian is no game of hide-and-seek. It is much more thrilling and exciting. It is your time of grace to seek him while he may be found. Feel the joy of time in his house. Experience the thrill of forgiveness as you seek time to receive the sacrament. Treasure the time to pour out your heart in confession and thanksgiving. Now as his children, we ask not why do we have to spend time with him, but when will we have the next opportunity to spend time with our Savior. That’s what Spirit-given love does. Love Takes Time to Seek God. And it is time well-spent.

Now, to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.